Claudia Fellner1, Christine Hechtl1, Roland Bttner2, Okka H. Hamer1, Christian Stroszczynski1, Cornelius Bollheimer2
1Institute of Radiology, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; 2Internal Medicine I, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
To assess dietary-induced changes of the muscle, 20 female high fat fed rats (HFR) and 12 female control animals (CR) fed with standard diet as well as 8 male HFR and 14 male CR underwent MRI and MRS at the age of 16 months. Maximum cross sectional area of the M. quadriceps was smaller in HFR compared with CR, HFR yielded increased lipid content and prolonged T2 relaxation times. Although all effects were seen in both genders, dietary-induced differences were significantly more pronounced in male than in female rats indicating relevant gender-depenent differences in our animal model of sarcopenic obesity.